Pci or Pci-E?

Hello, I am looking for a new video card but am not sure if this is a PCI or PCI Express card slot. (I see it says PCI1 and PCI2 but not sure if they are express or not) There is also another place to put a card in on top, the blue colored one, what kind of plug in thing is that? Any help is greatly appriciated. Thanks!

http://i32.tinypic.com/dx1op1.jpg

 

The blue slot is a PCIexpress video card slot. The little black slot is a PCIexpress x1 slot and is used for things like sound cards, ethernet/wifi cards, etc. The white slots are standard PCI slots and these are the most common type of expansion slots. Most devices for PCs besides video cards are designed for PCI slots, but they do make PCI based video cards also. But since you have the PCIexpress video slot, there's no reason to use a stndard PCI video card; they tend to be slower and lower end video cards. Modern video cards are almost exclusively PCIexpress (PCIe, sometimes also called PCIe x16) cards.

 

Awesome, that information was of great help! I think I know which videocard to get now, I had no idea i also had a pci express 1 slot as well. Thanks for your help!

 

:-D Glad to be of assistance....

It looks like you have an ethernet card in the 1st PCI slot. Why? Your motherboard has a built-in ethernet port. On the other hand, if you need the PCI ethernet card, I'd recommend moving down to the 2nd PCI slot to allow for more air flow when the video card is installed. If you don't need it and you decide to use the on-board ethernet, just remove the PCI card altogether....